Balkans: October 5, 2000

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New election poll figures (from September 24 presidential election) say Kostunica received 57 percent of the vote and Milosevic 33 percent. The new vote totals appeared as the Yugoslav constitutional court on October 4 tried to annul the election, in an apparent move to buy time for Milosevic. Meanwhile, between 100,000 and a 300,000 (the range of estimates was large) Serb dissidents took to the streets in Belgrade, protesting Milosevic and the stolen election. The Parliament building was set on fire. The state-run TV station was knocked off the air then came back on, under opposition control. Another 100,000 dissidents held protests elsewhere in Serbia. One of the most significant acts of disobedience was a strike at the Kolubara mine- and the fact that riot cops decided not to use force to break the strike. The EU and the US used a policy of pressures and promises to try to force Milosevic's resignation. The pressures included trying to get Russia to urge Milosevic to leave, the promises included ending economic and political sanctions on Serbia if Kostunica became president.

 

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